Please Re-Register To Access All Our Forums New Features on RV-Living Forum
Post all your RV questions or comments on RV Forum
There are a number of people selling unlimited AT&T SIMs for hotspots. We have ours through OTR Mobile.
As for Verizon, the truly unlimited prepaid hotspot is no longer available but it appears that Verizon Visible pretty much provides the same capability (using a phone rather than a dedicated hotspot.)
Are you talking about this?
As for Verizon, the truly unlimited prepaid hotspot is no longer available but it appears that Verizon Visible pretty much provides the same capability (using a phone rather than a dedicated hotspot.)
I think Visible has more limitations than the no-longer-available Verizon Unlimited plan.
My Point: OP, there is currently no such thing as a truly Unlimited Cellular Data plan. By Unlimited I mean . . . no throttling, no network management, no connection limits on hotspots, no use of inferior cell networks, etc, etc. However, people have pretty much accepted the bogus "unlimited" label created by the cell data providers . . . and most have even dropped the quotes from around "unlimited". Let me create a a non-marketing term -- Ersatz Unlimited.
Anyway, I suggest making use of the Mobile Internet Resource Center before making up your mind on streaming.
: OP, there is currently no such thing as a truly Unlimited Cellular Data plan. By Unlimited I mean . . . no throttling, no network management, no connection limits on hotspots, no use of inferior cell networks, etc, etc. However, people have pretty much accepted the bogus "unlimited" label created by the cell data providers . . . and most have even dropped the quotes from around "unlimited". Let me create a a non-marketing term -- Ersatz Unlimited.
Actually, OTR Mobile claims that its AT&T plans aren't subject to network management nor are they subject to a resolution limit on streamed video. You can verify these statements at the Mobile Internet Resource Center. We have been using our OTR Mobile SIM exclusively for streaming with our Rokus for the past month and it has performed admirably. There have been remarkably few pauses for buffering and i can state, without exaggeration, that none of them have lasted more than ~10-15 seconds. We don't get the high speeds that we have seen on our Verizon prepaid SIM, but the speed has been more consistent.
We don't get the high speeds that we have seen on our Verizon prepaid SIM, but the speed has been more consistent.
So the speed is limited?
So the speed is limited?
I have never seen any Internet service provider that offers "unlimited speed". "Unlimited data" on the other hand is offered of course. And even if the speed is slowed down due to throttling or even minimally with management, the data allowance is still unlimited. It just takes longer to use it...
I have never seen any Internet service provider that offers "unlimited speed". "Unlimited data" on the other hand is offered of course. And even if the speed is slowed down due to throttling or even minimally with management, the data allowance is still unlimited. It just takes longer to use it...
That's not the point, guys. Just because Real Unlimited™ cell data isn't offered, doesn't mean it's ok to call a good cell plan "unlimited". It isn't. Though my AT&T Mobley is filling my data needs, it ain't unlimited.
So the speed is limited?
No, I don't think it's being "limited" I just don't think AT&T has the bandwidth at our location that Verizon does. At the moment Speedtest on my phone (connected to our OTR Mobile SIM) is reading 10.1 down and 9.6 up. Running the phone on LTE using a postpaid plan gets me 16.2 down and 8.13 up. Using my Verizon prepaid plan is giving me 5.10 down and 9.29 up.
It's my impression that when the download speed is considerably less than the upload speed then it is most likely being "network managed." That would imply that my Verizon prepaid is seeing a slowdown due to that. But all of those speeds are enough to get good streaming video.
Edited October 21 by docj
That's not the point, guys. Just because Real Unlimited™ cell data isn't offered, doesn't mean it's ok to call a good cell plan "unlimited". It isn't. Though my AT&T Mobley is filling my data needs, it ain't unlimited.
The point is that these plans are promoted as "unlimited data", and that's what they deliver. Slowing down the rate that data is delivered at is irrelevant to the promoted claim since it does not restrict the amount of data that can be transferred, only the time it takes to transfer it. "Data caps" on the other hand, do restrict the amount of data that can be transferred, regardless of the speed. Don't get me wrong, I don't like having my speeds throttled of course, but if that's the provisions of the plan I knowingly signed up for, then I accept that. Fortunately, I currently have two cell plans that are only subject to congested tower management at times, something that I can't say I've ever noticed happening.
I signed up for Visible early June and it has been working great. I have their ZTE R2 android phone which they are currently selling for $19. Service is $40/month for unlimited talk, text, and data. I am three weeks into my current billing cycle and have used 360GB of data. I'm getting a fairly consistent 17 Mb/s download speeds connected to the hotspot. I have seen it as fast as 30 Mb/s.
I got my Visible Moto G7 power yesterday and think it's mostly setup. The hotspot shows up on my WIFI list but I haven't connected to it yet. I was rather displeased that they knew my VISA card number without me typing anything it. I paid for the phone using PayPal not a card.
I got my TOGO too and have been waiting for the rain to cease to try to install it. But it answered my original question. They have an offer for SlingTV at $20/mo and if you pay for 2 months they send you a no charge Roku Express. Apparently you plug that into the HDMI port on the TV and it acts as a WIFI card picking up TV shows from your WIFI hotspot.
Edited October 24 by agesilaus
I ordered the Visible R2 today, and should have it tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how the hotspot mode compares to our Verizon 6620L on the prepaid unlimited plan. The 6620L just renewed for another month, so I'll have some time for testing before deciding which one is the keeper.
Leave a reply
